Skype mobile phone on its way?

Skype and 3G network provider 3 are rumoured to be on the verge of releasing a mobile phone allowing users to make VoIP calls while you're out and about.

A spokeswoman at 3 told the Sydney Morning Herald that it’s working with an unnamed internet communications company to develop a “product to make free internet calls completely mobile”.

Separately, BusinessWeekreported that the handset, thought to be codenamed ‘white phone’, will initially be rolled out across the UK, Australia, Italy and Hong Kong by “late October”. It also claimed the phone has a Skype button that, when pushed, brings up a list of the user’s Skype contacts and allows them to make calls via the VoIP service.

For its part, Skype is keeping quiet for the time being and there’s no information about how much it will cost to place calls through the device beyond the usual SkypeOut and SkypeIn tariffs.

However, the VoIP company already has an existing relationship with 3. The network operator has two monthly tariffs that offer unlimited Internet calling over Skype and throw in a free Nokia handset, such as the 6120.